Magic's Mark

Chapter 25

Anastasia made a graceful hand gesture with her hand, beckoning for me to follow her so I pushed myself out of the chair.

Her purple dress flowed behind her, looking like a long wave of fabric swooping behind her.

"Please feel free to make yourself comfortable in our home," she said softly.

"Thank you," I replied. I was still a bit unsure of how to carry myself in her company, one part of me wanted to be relaxed as she exuded a welcoming air and the similarities between her and Taylor made me feel reassured. On the other hand, I was the feared strange creature that their son and heir of their family had sworn a binding magical oath to...

"Taylor's just out there," Anastasia gestured to the beautiful garden laying just outside the glass doors of the conservatory.

I walked into the conservatory, great white couches on each side of me hugged the walls of the glass structure. For a second, I felt like I was inside a giant greenhouse.

"Don't worry both the house and the garden is under magical protection. As long as you are here you'll be safe," Anastasia added. She had clearly interpreted my hesitation as fear.

I shot her a small smile over my shoulder before walking through the conservatory and out into the garden.

The giant magnolia tree was showing off its soft pink flowers, the huge petals looking like giant teardrops waving softly in the wind. My feet moved gently over the soft grass as I spotted a familiar frame at the far side of the garden. His back was facing me, his head bent down and I could see the corner of an old leathered bound book in his hand. He was sitting on a grey stone bench, settled under a cherry blossom tree.

"Hi," I started.

He turned, his eyes instantly worried as the book fell out of his grasp.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he quickly closed the gap between us, searching my face for any sign of distress.

"Yes, I'm fine," I replied, grabbing a hold of his lower arm and leading him back to the bench.

He sat down, still looking slightly confused at seeing me here. I grabbed the old book from the floor, the edges of it s wavy old pages brushed against my finger tips as I closed it and handed it back to him.

"Things have changed," he started.

"I know the king is dead," I filled in.

"How?" his eyes were showing a worry similar to the one that I had fleetingly spotted in Lucas' earlier. Why is everyone so worried about this? It's not like we haven't already been under threat constantly?

I shrugged my shoulders, "Lucas got attacked by Charlet men when I was with him."

"It's prime heir killing time right now. We have to be so careful before the matches have been announced," Taylor started, speaking almost as if he was thinking out loud.

I was just about to ask him about this whole 'matches' business when he interrupted me, "Did they see you? Do they know you're tethered?"

"Maybe. I had to use magic to get Lucas out of there. They had circles and he wasn't prepared."

"So he brought you here to keep you safe," Taylor summed up, a small trace of worry playing across his eyebrows.

I nodded gently, "But why would you assume that?"

Taylor shrugged his shoulders, "He knows you can't stay with him it would be too risky. It's in both of your interest for no warlock to fully understand how you are connected and how it can be used against you."